100 Drabbles and Shorts
by dollsom
Summary: 100 prompts, 100 drabbles and short fics, encompassing all characters and seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and the times before and after. So far, I have thirty. Bangel. Spuffy. Tillow. And more. NEW: Ensemble ficlets, Death and Sunrise
1. Author's Note

_Rating:_ PG. Thus far.  
_Characters:_ Hopefully I'll be able to include all of them. See list of drabbles for which ones I've got so far.  
_Ships:_ Probably all of them by the time I'm done. I will stay within the realm of canon, though. Probably. See list for ships.  
_Disclaimer:_ I own nothing and profit not at all.  
_Description:_ A hundred _BtVS_ drabbles. Really isn't much more to it than that.  
_Author's Note:_ I like to read drabbles, I think they're fun. So I thought I'd take a shot at writing some. Or a hundred. I'd like to finish. Let's see how far I get.  
_Author's Note 2:_ I've started to stray from the drabble form for a lot of these. Maybe I'm too lazy to stick to form, maybe I just can't stop writing. Oh well. They're still all on the short side.  
_Reviews:_ Yes, please.

_**Contents**  
_

**Title**_ -_ word count - _Time Frame_ - central characters

**001.Beginnings - **100 - _Welcome to the Hellmouth - _Buffy  
**002.Middles -** 100 - _post_-_The Gift -_ Dawn_  
_**003.Endings - **365 - _post_-_Chosen - _Buffy, Dawn, Giles, Willow, Xander

**004.Insides/Outsides** - 117 - _Villains - _Xander, Willow

**005.Hours** - 177 - _season 3_ - Faith  
**006.Days - **107 - _post_-_The Gift - _Spike (Spuffy)  
**007.Weeks** - 118 - _season 6_ - Buffy  
**008.Months -** 193 -_post-Chosen -_ Buffy, Dawn  
**009.Years** - 371 - _pre-series_ - Giles

**010.Red. -** 107 -_Seeing Red _- Tara/Willow  
**011.Orange - **100 - _Where the Wild Things Are_ - Willow/Giles (canon)  
**012.Yellow - **100 - _What's My Line? _- Buffy/Angel  
**013.Green -** 67 -_Bad Girls _- Wesley  
**014.Blue - **104 - _Welcome to the Hellmouth_ - Xander/Buffy (canon)  
**015.Purple** - 127 - _Dead Things _- Spike, Buffy  
**016.Brown - **147 - _Dirty Girls _- Willow, Xander  
**017.Black - **200 - _Lie to Me - _Angel  
**018.White - **150 - _post-Chosen - _Buffy  
**19 Colourless - **103 - _The Body - _Buffy

**20 Friends - **93 - _Dead Things - _Jonathan, Trio  
**021.Enemies - **200 - _retrospective_ - Richard Wilkins III  
**022.Lovers - **284 - _post_-_Chosen - _Willow and Buffy talk about Scoobies  
**023.Family - **142 - _seasons 1-7_ - Ensemble  
**024.Strangers** - 144 - _season 5_ - Willow/Tara  
**025.Teammates** - 340 - _Wishverse_ - Larry  
**026.Parents** - 232 - _Bargaining I_ - Dawn  
**027.Children** - 336 - _Bad Eggs_ - Giles/Jenny

**028.Birth** - 175 - _Bargaining_ - Buffy  
**029.Death** - 118 - abstract

**030.Sunrise** - 533 - _The Gift_ - Ensemble  
031.Sunset.

032.Too Much.  
033.Not Enough.

034.Sixth Sense.  
035.Smell.  
036.Sound.  
037.Touch.  
038.Taste.  
039.Sight.

040.Shapes.  
041.Triangle.  
042.Square.  
043.Circle.

044.Moon.  
045.Star.

046.Heart.  
047.Diamond.  
048.Club.  
049.Spade.

050.Water.  
051.Fire.  
052.Earth.  
053.Air.  
054.Spirit.

055.Breakfast.  
056.Lunch.  
057.Dinner.  
058.Food.  
059.Drink.

060.Winter.  
061.Spring.  
062.Summer.  
063.Fall.

064.Passing.

065.Rain.  
066.Snow.  
067.Lightening.  
068.Thunder.  
069.Storm.

070.Broken.  
071.Fixed.

072.Light.  
073.Dark.  
074.Shade.

075.Who?  
076.What?  
077.Where?  
078.When?  
079.Why?  
080.How?

081.If.  
082.And.

083.He.  
084.She.

085.Choices.  
086.Life.

087.School.  
088.Work.  
089.Home.

090.Birthday.  
091.Christmas.  
092.Thanksgiving.  
093.Independence.  
094.New Year.

095-100.Artist's Choice (Subject to change)  
095.Sun.  
096.Cloud.  
097.Sky.  
098.Sleep.  
099.Dream.  
100.Awake.


	2. Beginnings

**1. Beginnings**

Buffy took a moment to take in her surroundings. It was a nice school: wide front lawn, Spanish tile, kinda 90210-ish. Bright, sunny campus. Which would make sense in a town called "Sunnydale".

She started up the steps towards the school.

It seemed like a good place. People seemed happy, normal. No one with scales or horns, no screaming or running in horror, no violence and death. Nope, just regular, ordinary kids getting ready to start a regular, ordinary day at their regular, ordinary school.

If the day could just keep up like this, things might actually work out alright.


	3. Middles

**2. Middles**

When no-one was around, Dawn would go to her sister's room. Everything had been kept exactly the same. In some ways it was comforting, but in other ways… it just made it harder to let go.

One time, Dawn noticed a stack of books on the floor by the vanity. Brightly coloured post-it notes were stuck between the pages, marking the places where Buffy had left off. They were mostly course texts. On top of the stack was a copy of _Pride and Prejudice_.

Dawn opened the novel and started reading from the middle. She would finish reading all the books.


	4. Endings

**3. Endings**

Willow Rosenberg. 1981-2044. Killed in action, in the course of maintaining a protective force field around a village of indigenous Brazilians, during an attack by rampaging, flesh-eating demons. She saved the village and its inhabitants. No force, whether demonic, human, or natural, has been able to bring harm to or threaten the area since.

Alexander Harris. 1981-2027. Killed in action, when his contingent of Slayers was attacked by a band of guerrilla fighters in an unspecified location in central Africa. The attackers were hostile towards the population inhabiting the area surrounding a local Hellmouth, whom the Slayers had been protecting. The Slayers mounted a successful counter-attack and eventually established a safe haven on the Hellmouth for those fleeing the conflict that was on-going at the time.

Rupert Giles. 1954-2018. Killed in action, when the security of the training centre for the Council of Watchers and Slayers (est. 2005) was breached by the followers of a vampiric cult. Due to newly implemented emergency measures and improved training, the army of five hundred vampires was repelled, then routed, with a total of only four casualties on the Council side.

Dawn Summers. 1987-2062. Killed in action, when she and her entourage were attacked by a pack of hell-hounds, after their vehicle broke down outside of London. It was later found that the attack was planned by a small group of vampires and demons, intent on assassinating Summers after her extended tenure as the Head of the Council of Watchers and Slayers (2024-2061) saw the extermination of most of their species. The group was eliminated by a Council task force soon thereafter.

Buffy Summers. 1981-1997. Killed in action, while fighting a vampire known as the Master. Revived using CPR by Alexander Harris, she defeated the Master in battle, and prevented the opening of the Sunnydale Hellmouth. 1997-2001. Killed in action, in a successful effort to halt the destruction of barriers between dimensions by means of her own death. Revived using magic by Willow Rosenberg. 2001-2006. Killed in action, on a routine patrol, by what is assumed to have been a vampire. Kept in stasis by magic, she was given a blood transfusion and revived. 2006-2061. Died of natural causes.


	5. InsidesOutsides

**4. Insides/Outsides**

There was an episode of _The Simpsons_, one of those "Tree House of Horror" ones, that ended with them all being turned inside out by some poisonous gas. Xander thought it was funny as hell the first time he saw it. Willow wasn't as amused, for some reason. They were inside-out! It was crazy! What's not funny about that?

It was kinda what Warren looked like now, with his insides where his outsides should be, and his outsides not there at all, 'cause Willow tore them off. It made Xander feel like retching _his_ insides out. There was nothing funny about it. At least Xander thought so – it seemed as though Willow smiled before she disappeared.


	6. Hours

**5. Hours**

Faith glanced at the clock. Four hours till dark.

She turned on the TV and flipped through the channels, without really seeing what was on. In her mind, the sun had gone down, and she was out there, hunting, fighting, killing, feeling the blood pumping through her veins, sweat streaming down her face, bones breaking under her hands, feeling _alive_ – instead of sitting in some crappy motel room, watching a crappy, broken TV. The picture had gone out again.

"Screw it."

Faith turned the TV off. She could go to the library, do some training. But she really didn't think she could stand hanging out there for – she checked the clock – three hours and fifty-one minutes.

Maybe she could patrol. Sometimes nasties come out during the day. Who knows? She could get lucky.

Faith got to her feet and headed towards the door, knowing that it was a long shot. All the _really_ scary things wait till the sun goes down before they party.

Faith checked the clock one more time before she left.


	7. Days

**6. Days**

It would be a hundred days today. Spike wondered vaguely if the others knew, if they had been keeping count. Maybe he should call them up and tell them. After all, a hundred days is a milestone. They could have a party, with balloons andfunny hatsand a cake that says "100 Days Without The Slayer" in blood red icing.

Spike laughed to himself. Because it didn't mean the same thing to them as it did to him. They didn't believe he loved her, didn't know how he felt. That the last hundred days were cold, empty and meaningless, because of him. Because he couldn't keep a promise.


	8. Weeks

**7. Weeks**

It was strange, how the minutes dragged on, second by painful second, while the days all seemed to run together. The only reason Buffy knew what day it was, was her job at the Doublemeat. She had to know, otherwise she might come in by mistake on her day off, and God knows she didn't want to spend any more time at the Doublemeat than was absolutely necessary. Unfortunately, that necessary time seemed to be increasing, as Buffy took on extra shifts to pay the bills. She always kept one day free, though, so she would be forced to know what day it was, to reassure her that weeks were passing by, that she wasn't frozen in time..


	9. Months

**8. Months**

"So, I heard your class is going to Spain for the grad trip," Buffy said, while passing the orange juice to her sister at breakfast. "Sounds like fun."

Dawn shrugged. "I'm not going."

"What? Why not? I thought you wanted to go to Spain. It's like, the one country in Europe you haven't visited yet."

"Well, yeah, but the trip's in May," Dawn replied, as if that explained everything.

"Oh," Buffy seemed to accept this answer. Then her brow furrowed. "So?"

"So, you might need me, y'know, to help stop the apocalypse."

"There's an apocalypse coming in May?" Buffy was suddenly alarmed. "Since when? Why did nobody tell me?"

"Cause there isn't one. Not yet, anyways."

Buffy just looked at Dawn quizzically. Her younger sister sighed.

"Haven't you ever noticed? Bad things always happen in May."

Buffy waved her hand dismissively. "Pfft, nah, last year…" she paused, remembering last year. "Well, that one time…" she trailed off again.

Dawn folder her arms and raised an eyebrow.

"Okay, so apocalypses always come up in May," Buffy admitted. She puzzled over this a minute. "I wonder why that is?"

"I dunno," Dawn answered, stabbing at her pancakes. "April showers?"


	10. Years

**9. Years**

For the first time in weeks, Giles relaxed. He was back at Oxford again, and at last he felt like he was truly at home.

When he was at Council Headquarters, Giles worked hard to suppress the urge to lash out against the Watchers' scrutiny and veiled derision, to question their methods and practices. That could only lead to more scrutiny and derision, and a greater urge lash out, and he had no right to feel that way, not after what he'd done. Whatever else they were, the Council was on the side of good, and Giles had to make himself a part of that. It was simply going to take a lot of effort. As for his family home, that was the same as ever, only… colder.

The university was where Giles felt he belonged. It was old, and solid, constant. He could lose himself in the world of academia, in the lecture halls and libraries. At first he had been afraid that he had forgotten too much to be able to complete his degree. After all, so much had happened in the intervening years. But soon after he stepped onto campus, Giles felt it all coming back to him._1688, the Glorious Revolutionmake William of OrangeBritain's constitutional monarch; 1713-1714, the Peace of Utrcht-Rastadt ends the Nine Years War._The more he remembered, the better able he was to immerse himself in his studies, so that he was almost able to forget the other life he had at the Council, forget the other world he belonged to, with its demons and slayers and darkness. Almost.

_1455-1485, Wars of the Roses (In the Balkans, several towns are wiped out by an order of vampires, which concurrently increases the numbers of the order and its reach. Twenty-three Slayers are Called in rapid succession before the order is defeated)_

_1588, British defeat the Spanish Armada (A demonic cult in Ankara nearly succeeds in raining hellfire down on earth. The Slayer who stopped them is found by the cult's survivors. She is tortured, and killed, and her body is desecrated) _

_1648, the Treaty of Westphalia ends the Thirty Years War (After four years and seven months in action, the longest lived Slayer to date is killed)_


	11. Red

**10. Red**

Tara felt like singing, she was that happy. They might say that when it rains it pours, but right now the sun was shining and looking to only get brighter.

She and Willow were together again. That gave Tara enough happy to last for days, even though things seemed to be not so great with the rest of the Scoobies. But now, it looked like Buffy and Xander were making up. At this rate everything would soon be – what was Buffy's phrase? – hugs and puppies.

Tara turned from the window to her girlfriend. Willow looked as happy as Tara felt… but what was that red stuff?


	12. Orange

**11. Orange**

"Does he do this a lot?"

"Sure. Every day the earth rotates backward and the skies turn orange."

Of course, the sky turns orange every evening when the sun sets, but Willow wasn't going to start bickering over something like that with Xander, not at a time like this. Anyways, she was busy thinking of sunsets and Giles singing, and Giles singing to her, at sunset, and vaguely hoping that Tara wouldn't be jealous – after all, Giles was a man (funny how she hadstopped noticing that for a while) and Willow wasn't into that kind of thing anymore, not mostly anyways.


	13. Yellow

**12. Yellow**

Love is blind, that's the saying. Buffy never would have thought she's agree with it; she'd never shown romantic interest in anyone less than certifiably hunky. But one very hunky love interest had a tendency to go all ugly and scary when he got worked up, and presto – blind Buffy. Blind to the wrinkled skin, to the fangs, to the yellow eyes. None of it mattered. Underneath, it was still Angel. Whenever she looked into his eyes, whether they happened to be brown or yellow, she could see his soul. And that was what she loved.


	14. Green

**13. Green**

Wesley was green. It was a good thing. He was new to the job, inexperienced, yes; but he also brought a fresh perspective, innovative ideas, and a sense of vigour and vitality.

That was what Wesley was intending to say to Mr. Giles when the older Watcher pointed out the rather large contingent of El Eliminati who had gathered outside the library office.

Then Wesley turned green.


	15. Blue

**14. Blue**

When Xander saw her, he knew that he would remember everything about that moment. The way she walked up the stairs, the way her hair shone in the sunlight, and fell over her shoulders. Everything, right down to the very particular shade of blue that she was wearing. Was it sky blue? Robin's egg? It didn't matter, he would remember it forever. The world stopped in that moment, everything disappeared except for her. He glided towards her as if in a dream…

He glided right into a railing. It knocked Xander off his skateboard and onto his back. Then, all he could see was blue.


	16. Purple

**15. Purple**

Spike lay himself down, delicately, on top of the stone coffin in his crypt. His bed would have been more comfortable, but he hurt too much to climb down to it. Besides, he could barely see, his eyes were so swollen up. He'd probably miss the ladder entirely and fall down the hole, and wind up with even more bruises. Spike already felt like he was half-purple. Any more and he might as well call himself a dinosaur and get himself a kiddie show. He sniggered, thinking of how horrified Buffy would be at him spending hours with a dozen sweet, impressionable, succulent children. He'd just tell her that it was her fault in the first place. After all, she's the one who made him that colour.


	17. Brown

**16. Brown**

When Willow was five, her favourite colour was brown. All the other girls in her class liked pink, some liked purple. Harmony's favourite colour was rainbow. Cordelia's was gold. But Willow, she liked brown. The other girls laughed at her for that. Why would anyone like the colour brown? Willow lied and said that it was because it was the colour of chocolate. She didn't tell them that it was because brown was the colour of Xander's eyes. And Xander's eyes, well, they were the most beautiful thing Willow had ever seen. She almost told him that once, but she had gotten all tongue-tied, and then Xander stole her Barbie, and it was forgotten. Now, Willow doubted that she would ever tell him. It would hurt to much, telling him how she used to love to stare into his eyes, now that one of them was gone.


	18. Black

**17. Black**

Angel would have been shaking his head in disgust, but he was trying to blend in. These kids, they read Anne Rice and watch movies and think they know all about vampires. They tempt death, thinking they'll get to hang out with Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise for the next hundred years or so. Angel couldn't think of a single vampire he knew who would want to turn Tom Cruise. Not even the crazy ones.

They didn't know that being undead would do, that it meant you were giving yourself over to a demon. To these kids, all it meant was listening to depressing music, swearing off electric lighting and wearing lots of black and silk, way more over the top than --

... okay, so maybe some of them _do _know how vampires dress. But it wasn't like Angel _tried_ to look all dark and moody. It's just that when you don't have a reflection there's only so much you're willing to try with your look. Wear something that clashes and you're the laughing stock of the underworld. It's not that Angel thinks about his image, it's just that he knows that everyone looks good in black. Really.


	19. White

**18. White**

Buffy stood in front of her closet, thinking. It was the Apocalypse again, and a really bad one. For the first time in years, the first time since Sunnydale sank into the earth, Buffy thought she might be killed in battle. So when she started to get dressed, she froze. What do you wear to die?

She used to know. She used to do this all the time: get dressed knowing that any day could be her last. It was no big deal. Now, all of a sudden it seemed important that she be dressed... appropriately.

So Buffy stood in front of her closet, weighing her options. Then, clarity. Those times before, it was just a coincidence, but Buffy decided that from now on it would be a tradition. She pulled a skirt and a blouse from their hangers and started putting them on.

Whenever Buffy died, she wore white.


	20. Colourless

**19. Colourless**

The flowers caught Buffy's eye as soon as she walked through the door. A bright splash of colour, it brightened her mood just to look at them. Her mother's suitor obviously knew what he was doing. At least one of the Summers women was making good in the love department.

Buffy called to her mother, wanting to hear her take on this latest development. No one answered. Maybe she wasn't home?

She was in the living room - why hadn't she answered? Something wasn't right. Her mom was lying on the couch, eyes open, but blank and staring; her skin pale and drained, colourless.


	21. Friends

**20. Friends**

Jonathan never had any friends, not really. But then he met Warren and Andrew.

If he had had friends before, maybe Jonathan would have realized sooner that this isn't what real friends are supposed to be like. Real friends don't push you around. They don't call you names like "short round". They don't turn your average, every-day nerdy fantasies (_they always seemed so safe before, really just a game_) into twisted nightmares. They don't make you masquerade as their dead girlfriend. And real friends don't think it's cool to get away with murder.


	22. Enemies

**21. Enemies**

A man like Richard Wilkins III was bound to have enemies. There were his rivals, of course. There were those who feared him. Then, there were others whom he was able to pay off, but one wrong step, and they'd turn on him faster than a bat out of the Hellmouth. Seriously sinister types, all. With so many scary things wanting to go bump him off in the night, the mayor always had to be looking over his shoulder. After all, it wasn't as if the metaphorical bluebird sitting there would do it for him.

Oh, and of course, who could forget the ever-present, persistent do-gooders? The Slayer and her loyal band of friends. They didn't look like much, but appearances can be decieving. They were a spunky bunch. And the Slayer herself... sure, she looked like your average apple-pie-American teen, and she didn't have much going for her fire-power wise, even with super-human strength (everyone knows that Slayers are built to fight like the dickens, but don't last longer than a Duracel), but she managed to hurt the mayor more than all of his more powerful enemies combined. And that was before she blew him up.


	23. Lovers

**22. Lovers**

Thanks for the help, Will. That pocket dimension was a life-saver. I don't know how else I would have dealt with the Immortal, him being, y'know, immortal and all.

No problem, Buffy. Always happy to save the world from another one of your boyfriends gone wrong.

Strangely, my gratitude is starting to wane. How're things with you and Kennedy?

Oh, they're... good.

I'm glad to hear it.

We've been getting along much better since I broke up with her.

You broke up with her? Since when?

Last month.

Oh, I'm sorry, Willow. I really have been AWOL, haven't I? What happened?

Everything was always about power games with her. How powerful I was getting. Her Slayer power.

Uh huh.

That, and she kept complaining about coming home to find me all trance-y. I mean, I like the sex as much as the next person, but I happen to have spiritual needs too, y'know?

I know I get really tense if I haven't had a good trance in a while. What's the latest with Xander? I heard he started dating again.

Oh, his date wanted to eat him.

Willow! I did _not_ ask for details!

As in, ingest him, and then regurgitate him to feed her young.

Oh. Ew. Bet that was a shocker.

Well, the having young was. Not so much the being a demon.

Will?

Mm hm?

Do you ever think that maybe we are... doomed?

Well, I dunno. We've all had a lot of bad luck, and you never know what might happen... Absolutely. Without a doubt. Doomier than doomsday.

Wah.

Tell me about it.

Well, at least I can live vicariously through Dawn. I think she's escaped the Sunnydale curse. She's got a new squeeze.

Yeah? What's his name?

Connor.


	24. Family

**23. Family**

Right now? Just me and my mom.

The transmitters of tradition and responsibility.

The unit responsible for the primary socialization of the individual.

You try to forget them. If you can't forget them, you hide from them. If you can't hide, you ignore them. And if you can't ignore them, you shut up and go to your room.

The generous sponsors of my Visa, Mastercard, and American Express.

The people I come after first.

Your pack.

Your troops – your brothers in arms.

What Dru used to call us, back in the day.

When a man and a woman come together in love and horniness and have lots of sex, which leads to pregnancy and the birth of cute little screaming, snot-nosed dependents.

What my father and brother never were.

Me, my sister, and my mom. And our friends.

What we are.


	25. Strangers

**24. Strangers**

Willow had two lives: one before, and one after Tara. The first Willow was shy, nerdy, cared _so _much about what other people thought of her, was just as much an adoring groupie as a girlfriend, and was really kind of pathetic. The other Willow was powerful, confident, in control, even had an adoring groupie of her own – just kidding; of course Willow would never think of Tara as groupie, kept around just to be adoring. She was, well, _Tara_. Adoring Willow was just something she did naturally.

It was funny to think of all those people who used to seem to matter so much, who had only known pre-Tara Willow: the Harmonys and the Percys, even Cordelia and Ms. Calendar. Even Jesse. They'd be total strangers to the new – and improved – Willow. Willow would even be a stranger to herself.


	26. Teammates

_Author's Note:_ I've gotten lazy. Too lazy to keep these things down to drabble-length, or even to try to keep them to round numbered word-counts. Meh.

* * *

**25. Teammates**

It wasn't so much that Larry liked playing football, as he liked being part of a team. It gave him something to belong to, a place in life. People on the outside weren't safe from ridicule and torment, Larry knew, as he himself was oftent the perpetrator of said ridicule and torment. Those on the outside, the loners and losers, they challenged, in their own way, what the team stood for, so they only got what was coming to them. Like that twerp Jonathan, or brainiac Nancy. Larry and his teammates had tried to make fun of Oz a couple of time, but gave up once it was clear that Oz didn't care what they said or did to him. Which was kind of cool, and sexy -- not that Larry thought of him that way. In the end, Oz was another one of the loners, one of the dorks who hung out in the library, and Larry treated them all the same way: like they were good for a laugh or some lunch money, but not much else. It was their own fault for not finding a team of their own.

Then, something happened to change all that. The Razorbacks were playing a night game, and there was... an attack. The team was decimated in minutes. And in the midst of the chaos and fighting and dying, Jonathan -- _Jonathan_ of all people, with a cross and a crossbow that looked like it was stolen from a Medieval Faire -- jumped into the fray and saved his life. Larry looked around and saw that the people he thought were loners weren't so alone after all. And not only were they staying safe, they were saving other people too.

On Monday, emergency mid-season football try-outs were held. Larry skipped them, and went to the library instead. He had found himself a new team.


	27. Parents

**26. Parents**

"What are your parents like?"

It was a simple question, but it stumped Dawn. With both her mom and her dad gone now, she didn't really have an answer to the question. Her legal guardian was a monster-killing robot, but that answer would win her a one-way ticket to the school councillor and the reject table in the caf. She had hoped that Giles would step into the father role -- he was a real grown-up, he knew what he was doing, she could trust him and feel safe with him. But instead he had withdrawn, and finally returned to England. She supposed Willow and Tara were the closest thing she had to parents now, Willow taking a detached interest in Dawn's life and the running of the house, Tara making her pancakes and keeping track of Dawn's friends and schoolwork. Xander and Anya were around a lot, but they were more like the friendly aunt and uncle. And then there was Spike. Spike, who always hung out with her when she wanted him to, who talked to her like an equal, and who was fiercely protective to the point of being obsessive. He wasn't quite a friend, was more than a favourite uncle... did that make Spike her father figure? This was confusing, and she didn't know how to answer.

"Let's just say... I have kind of an unconventional family."


	28. Children

**27. Children**

After the incident in the park, Giles and Jenny got back together. They would take things slow, it was agreed, but there was no denying that there was a new sense of committment there on both their parts. After all, you don't give your boyfriend another chance after a demon he raised almost killed you because you want a casual relationship. Jenny knew that commitment was there, but avoided thinking about it, not wanting to consider what it meant for her as a child of the Kalderash.

Giles, on the other hand, thought about it a lot. For the first time since he met her, when he thought about Jenny Giles found his mind racing in fast-forward, to Valentine's Day, summer vacation, their one-year anniversary, meeting the friends she talked about often, and the family she spoke of not at all but who must exist somewhere, changes in living arrangements, their second anniversary, elaborate fantasies about taking time off to visit England with her, third anniversary. And when Buffy and her friends came into the library with eggs for an assignment for family studies, or whatever it was they were calling home ec theses days, Giles found himself thinking about children -- not slayers, and not teenagers filling his library with noise and chaos, but... a baby, with Jenny's eyes and his nose, who would keep them up at night, cost loads of money, accellerate the pace at which his hair was greying, call him "father". He had never found one idea so terrifying and so charming at the same time.

But Giles was getting ahead of himself. They were taking things slow, after all; and circumstances on the Hellmouth usually conspired to interrupt dates and ensure that they take things even slower. He filed his thoughts away at the back of his brain, to be returned to at a later date, when they could be discussed with Jenny. At least until after their first anniversary; possibly during their trip to England. They had time.


	29. Birth

**28. Birth**

Warmth. Peace. Bliss.

Suddenly, she was pulled out, into a place that was cold and dirty. She didn't know how to breath; she learned soon enough, but the space in between breathing and not knowing how was a scary time, and seemed to draw out forever.

As soon as Buffy started breathing again, she realized there was not enough air. She was trapped. She clawed at the ceiling above her, the lid, through the funeral-pink satin lining; she tore at the wood, splinters digging in under her nails, slicing her skin. The earth poured in, and Buffy thought it would drown her alive, but she fought against it. Buffy clawed her way out of the ground, and when she broke through, finally, it was even colder than before, and open, and frightening. She had ot learn how to breath again, the cold air piercing her lungs.

They say that being born is the most traumatic thing that will ever happen to you; that's why no one remembers it. Buffy wished that was true for her.


	30. Death

**29. Death**

In some ways, it's always different

A sense of confusion, of terror, thinking, _It can't end like this._

A split-second realization of what is about to be lost, that's over before you can say "goodbye".

A moment of clarity, of brilliance, burning through the morning mist.

A bolt from the blue, something that just happens.

But there are always those left behind, wishing that they had been saviours, that they could turn back time. Wishing for a reprieve from on high that is surely deserved.

They live with it, by it, for it; it is their companion and their guide; it imbues their lives with darkness and with meaning.

Seize the moment, 'cause tomorrow you might be dead.


	31. Sunrise

**30. Sunrise**

Buffy thought it was the most beautiful sunrise she had ever seen. Everything was beautiful. Everything fit, had a purpose. And this was her purpose, her gift. She leapt.

Giles wondered exactly when he had stopped preparing himself for Buffy's death. How many apocalypses had it taken? He had known that someone, possibly all of them, would be dead by sunup. But he never thought it would be Buffy.

This time, Anya knew that what she was thinking was inappropriate, and she didn't give it voice. She wanted to cast the thought from her mind, it didn't seem right. But she couldn't help thinking, _she looks so pretty in the morning light_.

Xander didn't understand what was happening. Buffy was dead. The world should be over. At least the heavens should open up, and there should be angels, or birds, or something. Or the ground should tremble, and there should be lightening, and the earth should be plunged into blackness for a day of mourning. Something like that, Xander would be able to accept. But this... this didn't make any sense. They shouldn't be standing around, staring, like morons; the sun shouldn't be shining away happily, like everything's the same. Like Buffy wasn't dead

Willow would have been angry with the sun. She would have blotted it out herself, if she could have. She would have tried. But she was crying too hard, it was difficult to breath, and she was so tired.

Things were still muddled for Tara. She had been in the dark for so long that the light spreading over the horizon was blinding to her. If she squinted, she could almost see, in silouhette... but she didn't have to. All Tara had to do was look at Willow, and she knew what had happened.

The sun was taunting him. Spike hadn't been able to save Buffy, and now it was preventing him from going to her, mocking his impotence. He could blame anyone -- Glory, Doc, the Scoobies, Dawn, even Buffy herself -- but Spike knew it was his fault she was dead. He cursed himself for being too much of a coward to throw himself on her body, and burn up in the morning rays.

It was dawn, and she was all alone. Never in her life, not even when their mother had died, had she felt so lost and helpless. She wanted to crawl someplace dark and warm, and just cry, cry until there was nothing left. Or, dissolve into a mass of energy -- it didn't seem so bad now; she would be free of this world, and could find Buffy and her mom, wherever they were. Or... live. She thought of Buffy's last words to her, and pushed away the dark thoughts, as much as she wanted to simply let them engulf her. She pushed them away, and found a part of herself, the part that owed the most to Buffy, that was strong and brave, and determined. Dawn walked out of the shadow of the tower towards her friends. Looking at the sky, she felt for a moment that she was seeing what Buffy saw before she jumped. It really was a beautiful sunrise.


End file.
